With the intense summer temperatures revving up, we checked into how the heat affects something many of us use every day: prescription medicine.
We spoke to a local pharmacist, Dr. Virginia Boomershine, who said it is especially important to keep your meds in a cool place in the height of summertime.
Boomershine explained why you shouldn't leave prescriptions in warm areas for prolonged periods of time.
“If it's too hot it'll lose it's potency, so it won’t be as effective as it was originally intended to be,” she said.
But it's also a common issue given how warm Phoenix gets in the summer.
“It could be forgetting your meds in your car, you left them in a bag overnight -- not necessarily the best thing for the medications,” Boomershine added.
We also asked what happens when you take your dose after being outside in the heat, raising your internal temperature.
“Your core body temperature won't effect how your process medications,” she said.
The question was raised after a Coolidge boy died last week -- his doctors say his core temperature coupled with his meds may have contributed to the fatal result.
“What can happen though, if you're out in the heat -- you can get dehydrated, the dehydration can affect how you process medications,” she said.
We can verify that poor storage of medicine and/or a dehydrated patient can change the prescription's effectiveness.